Life just got a little better with my A99V
In an earlier article about wireless SD cards, I described how an Eye-Fi card filled a gap in the feature set of my Sony Alpha A99V. I disliked having to connect the camera to a computer with a cable every time I wanted to transfer photographs. Wireless transfer was particularly attractive in the studio, where I wanted to see images quickly on a computer or iPad.
This time I was trying the Eye-Fi Mobi Pro 32GB, which was marketed as the company’s top-end wireless SD card. It included a year of Eye-Fi cloud services and promised wireless transfer of JPEG and RAW files. The product sounded very promising.
Eye-Fi published a compatibility matrix to help users check which features were supported by their camera.
At first glance
The package included a USB SD card reader and an SD card that felt well made. The card had a small switch on the side for write protection.
The software was straightforward to download, and registering for the cloud service went smoothly. Configuring the software was less pleasant. The general user experience felt cumbersome and could have been considerably better.
The card offered online sharing services for platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, as well as geotagging and wireless transfer. In my setup, transferring RAW and JPEG files was noticeably quicker than with the previous PRO X2, although actual performance depended on file size, network conditions and camera settings.
Battery consumption seemed improved. In my experience, the card appeared to use less power than its predecessor, although battery life varied with the amount of wireless activity.
Connecting was flexible. The card could connect through a wireless router or create a direct connection for use away from home. This made it possible to transfer photographs to an iPad while travelling. The card used 2.4GHz Wi-Fi; its stated range and transfer speed were dependent on the environment and the receiving device.
The advanced settings included options for selective transfer and RAW transfer, as well as the ability to configure the network used at home.
The downsides
- The Eye-Fi software worked, but it was not particularly polished. Better stability and a more intuitive interface would have made a real difference.
- The desktop software occupied screen space and could be intrusive when other applications were in use.
- The card did not support the 5GHz Wi-Fi band.
- Windows Phone was not supported.
- Write performance was not fast enough for demanding burst photography.
- I would still have liked proper wireless tethering between the camera and computer.
Looking at the price
At the time, the Mobi Pro was aimed at enthusiastic photographers who wanted wireless transfer and online services in one package. It was more expensive than a conventional SD card, but it offered features that were genuinely useful in my workflow. I could recommend it for the use cases it supported, although the software experience left room for improvement.
Related information
Historical note: Eye-Fi discontinued its card services and software. This is a review of a product from 2015, not current purchasing or setup advice. Do not assume that the original cloud, app or transfer services remain available.
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